ICAC counsel assisting: Leaks hard to trace

Peter Braham
, SC, the merry counsel assisting the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption, has a very nimble mind, which is how he was able to suggest that former NSW mines minister
Ian Macdonald
had his staff leak a press release about a controversial training mine to The Australian Financial Review on December 23, 2008, as a way to discourage other papers following it up once the Financial Review reported it. It’s a cracking theory, if slightly under-researched. The paper did not publish after December 23, the newsroom was empty. Oops!

Many papers struggle with the holidays. When
Denis O’Neil
and
Neville Crichton
filed a lawsuit against Cascade Coal on December 24 last year, based on ICAC revelations, The Australian reported it on January 3.